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Let’s agree with one thing first - we all have that one weird person in our office who just wouldn’t stop amazing everybody with his/her weirdness. Their mental maturity is highly questionable and everyone wonders how they get through their life outside work. Dwight from The Office and Milton from Office Space show more signs of normalcy when compared and it’s an enigma how years of school and college education couldn’t transform their strangely peculiar and petulant habits.

Do not take me for a bad human being. The likes of me, we who have to spend hours working with such imbeciles, try very hard to understand them and where they’re coming from, and at times make our minds struggle to come to terms with them and their level of thnking, or no thinking! As it would seem, they didn’t choose the life of weirdness, the weird life chose them.

They didn’t choose the life of weirdness, the weird life chose them. We even pity them thinking how all they look for is acceptance and yet every time they talk to a human being, they keep going farther away from it; in fact making the bridge go just a bit more lengthier. Years of bullying in school is no help either - if that is the case to be, which we never know about.. Yes, we pity them god be with them, but what about us who get to deal with them all the damn time? What do we do when their obnoxiousness is a growing matter of concern for everyone in the office?

Here are some tips you can use, coming from some personal experience:

What would Jim do?

Anytime you see that weird guy anywhere near you and you know what’s coming to you, just think, “What would Jim do?” Now for those who haven’t seen The Office, allow me to introduce you to the coolest office employee to ever exist (of course fictional). Now Jim had Dwight who sometimes dressed up like this:

Just to give a small description, Dwight K. Shrute is the Assistant (to the) Reginal Manager and also has a beet farm. He has affinities for paintball, Battlestar Galactica, ping pong, survivalism, Goju Ryu karateand weapons. What fun it would be to sit next to them all day.

Now Jim was as cool as a cucumber and never let Dwight get to him. Embracing his weirdness as plain funny and questioning his arguments, Jim, being the normal guy was able to irritate Dwight more than vice-versa. His pranks are legendary and you can get the right cues from him that might just save you from some agony, if not do you an overall favor.

Out of sight, out of mind

Just believe they don’t exist.

Now you might give the impression that you’ve landed straight from the sets of ‘Mean Girls’ but this definitely works and must be saved as the last resort of hope. The trick is simple – avoid eye contact. If you sense they are close by, just keep chanting ‘ignorance is bliss’ and run in the opposite direction, and pray that they don’t run after you to make sure you get a taste of them.

But jokes apart, ignoring is genuinely helpful. If you see them, just acknowledge their presence with a smile and then move away. They might take months to get the hint but someday, they will!

Try to understand them, like really understand them

This might be the worst advice to give here clearly knowing that trying to understand that weird person is equivalent to finding logic in The Holy Bible, but at least give it a try. After two complete days of meditation, gather the courage to talk to them and understand why they are the way they are. You’ll find an ocean of reasons, some you could definitely relate to and might be able to offer some help to the poor soul. Think of them as your old teenage self trying to make sense of the world and give them a chance your friend gave you.

Don’t feel guilty

You have every right to speak up and not feel remorseful later. If you have made sure that you have been compassionate and given this weirdo every chance to change and accommodate better in the office, then it is time you spoke to them about the issues at hand. Lies come in many form, but truth has only one – bitterness! Let it be bitter, if it has to be, but make sure that you talk about the situation as is and try your best for it to not get to another level of annoyance.

Do you also have that one weird person in your office? If yes, then do let us know how to dealt with the same on our Facebook page of Entrepreneur India.

Ritu Kochar

Ritu works as Feature writer for Entrepreneur India and covers lifestyle beat.